Have you ever wondered

[woodcutter]

I have never found a Walking Liberty Half dollar but you have to wonder who lost these coins. When these were in circulation a half dollar went a long way. I doubt kids lost these as they may not have had that much money. Seems like it would have been adults. The coin itself is large and it would seem like it would be hard to lose, but it happened. Heck, people loose watches, pocket knives, etc. Just wondered is anyone had any comments on this.

 

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[scotty]

Woodcutter;
I have found several walking liberty's halves, one was in a coin purse along with a silver quarter, and liberty dime, in a camp for cub scouts, don't think a man lost it because it was under a camping tent platform. Kids lose a lot of money, they like to roll around , jump, throw their clothes down on the ground, while playing, any loose change goes flying. HH Scotty

 

[Lowbatts]

Well Woodcutter, I found a whole slew of turn of the century coinage in front of a house that used to be a Mom & Pop neighborhood store at the time. There was a beautiful 1908 Barber Half there along with SL & Brbr dimes, V nickels, IH and early wheats. About 50 coins in all in a 20 foot by 5 foot parkway while the sidewalks and parkways were being rebuilt. Gotta think carriage riders dropped money getting in or out and the change went through the boards or some such thing. The ground there was probably well worn in those days, not manicured as it is now and perhaps during rain or wet weather coinage could get lost quickly.

Found quite a few WL halves, one '43 right on the 3rd base line at an old ballfield in a nearby town and one '43 just outside the lines at another ballfield the next day. That was a real kicker for me.

 

[Dbeard77]

One instance I thought of is there may have been lots of snow on the ground at the time some of the items were dropped. Have you ever tried to find loose change in a foot of snow? It's not an easy chore.

 

[woodcutter]

All good theories. I guess people lose EVERYTHING. I still have to wonder about it. Heck, how many people have a half dollar in their pockets today. I bet you could walk up to 1000 people and no one would have one. They must have been used much more in those days.

 

[TimeDog]

Yes there are plenty of fifty cents out there, I have two WL halves a 1940 and a 1943 Plus I have 1877 half a 1911 liberty half and a Franklin Liberty half 1951 and a couple of Kennedy both 1964. As to the old 1911 Barber half that is in really poor (about G4) or less (smile) I carry that in my pocket as a good lucky. And though they used to carry around half doller coings they don't really use them much in fact I have not seen one of those with anyone using them. Main thing is every one in the old days and even in the news days loss coins and many guys are finding Gold Coins (not a real lot) but enough to keep it interesting (smile) so just keep on going and searching and digging you will find lot's of different coins and more.

 

[MDnoob]

I think the main thing you have to consider is that grass was never cut back in the day. At best, they had only those spiral-bladed push powered mowers. If you lost a coin in grass that is even only 3-4" deep, you may as well forget it.

Another thing: clothing was probably not quite as sturdy as it is today...maybe holes in pockets were really common...? :lol:

 

[Lowbatts]

Here's the last one I found, it was again in a parkway during some street/sidewalk rebuilding earlier this summer. This was in front of a house I had lived in about 25 years ago. Wasn't detecting back then, so I can only guess what other hunters who had worked this area in years past, and there had been plenty, had found already on that block.

 

[woodcutter]

Lowbatts - That sure is a nice coin. Maybe someday. I bet it is a thrill to pull a coin like that out of the ground. What type of detector do you use.

 

[wayne]

woodcutter - i found a walking half and a penny the same day and in the same place - both dated 1917 about three years ago. i have also found four silver dollars in different places in the same park. wayne

 

[Lowbatts]

Hey Woodcutter, was using my CZ-20 that day. There was an intolerable amount of copper wire clippings from Elec. Comp. work in the area and a very noisy transformer overhead. It made my CZ-7 get a little chirpy and my 1235X go bonkers. Right around the corner my daughter and I located a large target at 8". We trenched down about 6" and then felt it out with probes, it appeared to be an iron box about 18" * 18" in size and we got excited. After removing the dirt from above the top we started making out letters. First an "O", then an "E", then several more until we read "Telephone Company"

Drats. Yep, old phone company junction box, no longer in use but still there.

Always check them parkways, especially when the sidewalk and curb work is underway. You'll get old Halves and more in those areas. And someday will be anyday you get your coil swung over one. That could be tomorrow, or better yet today! I'm still down recovering, but as soon as Doc's orders are "can do" I will do, if the temps get back up in the 30's or 40's that is.....

 

[david]

Just a note; ask some older folks where the old mail boxes were . There used to be one on every other corner in the old days . Ive found quite a few halves and other good finds at these. No dout from the postman unlocking them. Also ask a few historians in your area some cities used to pay there blue coller workers in silver every week. Can lead to a real hotspot. good luck

 

[Digger]

I have found 11 WL 1/2's in my adventures. The first few had me holding it in my hand and feeling the weight thinking How can someone lose such a mass of silver, and not realize it? Then I realized most of mine were found between the sidewalk and curb or near a front door. I think if one imagines 6-12" of snow on the ground, it would be easy to see how while fumbling in your pocket for the keys to the car or house, dropping coins of any size may go unnoticed. And even if you did, you may never find it.

 

[Lowbatts]

Hey Digger, noticed that those halves of any age give me that large bell tone if they're within the top inch of soil using my CZ's. Gotta be careful when deciding what targets to ignore. There are those times when the area is so trashy you want to ignore all large targets but experience sez, dig it all and let your bank account sort it out! HH